A federal judge on Oct. 15 temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to lay off certain federal employees during the government shutdown.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, of California’s Northern District, began a hearing on the matter by saying she was “inclined to grant the plaintiff’s motion,” but was open to arguments from the government that might change her mind.
Illston said the layoff plans were “politically-motivated,” and “arbitrary and capricious.”
The judge said the government appears to be taking advantage of the shutdown to “assume that all bets are off, that the laws don’t apply to them anymore.”…